In just a few short days, KZSC will bid a “see-you-later” to senior programmer, Marles Barkley aka Marley Lix-Jones. Earning her staff badge during her freshmen year, Marles went on to be Rock Director for one year, followed by Music Director for one year. Marles Barkley had her debut show, Hairdresser Blues with fellow DJ Justin Credible during the Spring of 2012, where “hairstyles rotate[d] weekly.” In the Fall of 2012, Marles began Soulacoaster, which will have it’s final edition this week—just short of three years on KZSC’s program schedule. With her diverse array of musical tastes, Marles has also hosted neo soul show No Love, indie rock show Pop-Rock-Sicle, and post-punk show Rebellious Jukebox. Marles and I caught up on spices, curling, college, and of course, radio.

If I were a nut butter I would be… peanut butter. I mean, of course she would, it’s the title of Joanna Gruesome’s newest album and Marles is all about Joanna Gruesome.

My favorite pepper/spicy spice/hot sauce is… I like black bean chili sauce. The oil is good as hot sauce for soups and stuff and the actual sauce is really good in a stir fry type thing. Versatile sauce.

My favorite summer Olympic sport is… soccer.

My favorite winter Olympic sport is… I’m not passionate about any winter Olympic sport. What about curling? How do you feel about curling? Waste of time y/n? I think curling is pretty chill. It’s fun-ish to watch and seems fun to play. It is one of those Olympic sports where the people who play it are just regular people with day jobs and they are just mad good at curling, which I think is cool but also kinda sad. I feel like if you are the best in the world at something you should be allowed to just do that for a living.

Best meal of the day? Of today? All I’ve eaten is coffee and goldfish.

Are you a sandwich person or more of an anything-wrapped-in-a-tortilla person? Both.

We are deeply saddened to inform you that our longtime KZSC volunteer programmer and friend, Greg Williams, aka DJ Sequoia Slim and The Gemini Factor, has left us. Greg died in his sleep, at home, on Friday May 29th.

Greg was a wonderfully diverse programmer and one of the kindest people ever to join the KZSC community. He hosted many successful shows like Indie Babies and Sternal Precautions and he was always eager to provide a warm welcome to newcomers to the station family. We have been grateful for every day that he could come spend time with us at KZSC and to share himself and his music with our community.

We have set aside some time to memorialize him on the air, during his show Sternal Precautions, on both Monday June 1st and June 8th, from 4 pm to 6 pm. Greg left an online archive of hundreds of his playlists–showcasing what he always championed as “weird and wacky” music.

Jacob Block, known on-air as “Brickfrog” has been tearing up the airwaves of Santa Cruz for four whole years. Since his radio debut in May of 2011, Jacob has programmed over 200 shows on KZSC.

Jacob’s older brother, who programmed for KRFH in Humbolt, planted the seed for Jacob’s radio future. When Jacob was admitted to UCSC, he knew immediately that he wanted to be a part of the Great 88. Instead of only programming a show for KZSC, Jacob went above and beyond, quickly finding his place among the station’s governance. In his sophomore year, he was the teaching assistant for the Intro to Radio class. His junior year, he taught the radio course. Senior year, Jacob became KZSC’s volunteer coordinator.

Jacob is also a well-oiled humor machine. When we sat down for a brief interview, the conversation leaned more toward absurd banter than journalism. But hey, it’s college radio, what did you expect? (cliché snare fill to cymbal noise).

“Should I give you pull quotes?? …I GOT INTO RADIO TO ROCK….

Wait, don’t use that. That’s awful.” -Jacob

Listening to and sharing music is Jacob’s bread and butter…

“Radio is like making a mixtape for everyone. It’s a way to show people music they might really like.” -Jacob

Jacob has programmed shows in almost every genre during his career at KZSC. From hip-hop, to psychedelic rock, to metal mixed with Sienfeld Bass breakdowns… if it makes you move your hips, Jacob has spun in.

In the near future, Jacob plans to apply for grad school, eventually shooting for a PhD in writing, and a career as a teacher. As far as broadcasting goes, Jacob claims that he would want nothing to do with the commercial radio industry.

“I can see myself sticking with radio, but I cannot see myself working for commercial radio, because that would take all the fun out of it.” -Jacob

This spring quarter will be Jacob’s last program on KZSC. Jacob is one of the grooviest and wittiest deejays to have ever called our station home. Farewell, Brickfrog. Station Lobby banter will never be the same…

“It’s been crazy, but it’s been one of the best things I have ever done. It has made me a different person, and I’m proud…” -Jacob

You can catch Jacob’s show “The Jangle Book” every Tuesday afternoon from 2:00 to 4:00 on the one and only, KZSC Santa Cruz.

Congratulations to the newest staff members of KZSC! They’ve completed our rigorous training and their new shows are now debuting on our spring 2015 schedule (which hits the airwaves on April 13th). We can’t wait to hear what they’ll come up with, and we’re sure you’ll love what they do on KZSC.

UC Santa Cruz students should contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Jared, so you can join them. We offer a training class (for credit!) every quarter, and you can take it after you volunteer at the station for 20 hours.

March’s programmer of the month is KZSC’s very own New Media Director, Brandon Oleksy. Brandon is a sophomore originally from San Marcos, studying computer game design, although his passion lies in photography. The DJ Name BrandX was bestowed upon Brandon by Jaws at his very first mentee session. His initial name was DJ idon’tknow (for lack of a better name). Jaws assumed that meant Brandon didn’t know his DJ name, and therefore spontaneously dubbed him BrandX. And from there the name stuck. You can catch Brandon on his show “Teenage Kicks” every Sunday 10pm-12am, and occasionally on “Morrissey Boulevard,” Mondays 9am-noon, if he’s up that early.

“Teenage Kicks” is “the artier side of punk,” as he puts it, bringing together post punk, college rock, and garage rock. He was first introduced in early high school to bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana, and Pearl Jam by going through his Dad’s music collection. And from there, one thing led to another. He found himself researching and finding out about bands and labels like Public Image Ltd, Hüsker Dü, and SST Records. He used his Dad’s musical influences as a springboard for discovering his own personal tastes, because “Dad’s CD collection can only go so far.” Brandon’s musical tastes have certainly evolved since his first concert–*NSYNC when he was 7.

When I asked Brandon why he wanted to be a DJ, he said it just sort of happened. As a freshman he noticed a banner for a KZSC Open House and stopped by. And when he came in and saw the walls filled with records and CDs, he knew he was going to be staying with KZSC and came in the very next day to start volunteering. Less than a year later, he was elected as KZSC’s New Media Director. As New Media Director, Brandon is in charge of monitoring KZSC’s social media, including KZSC’s Facebook page, blogs, and instagram. He is also the brain behind KZSC’s abounding twitter puns.

Not only does Brandon monitor KZSC’s social media, he also just created his first news report on the UCSC “96 Hours of Action” protests earlier this month. During those protests, he documented each day with photography, video, and interviews. He was at the base of campus during the campus-wide strike at 4:30 in the morning and stayed until 6 in the evening documenting it all. Brandon’s photography skills aren’t just used for reporting; he is a semi-professional, and he plans on pursuing a career in photography, with game design as his backup. You can check out his photography here, where you can see all the live concerts he’s photographed.